Wyoming company submits initial plan for thousands of homes on Greeley’s western edge, Anadarko, Kerr-McGree object over mineral rights concerns
By Trenton Sperry
Cheyenne-based Edwards Development has brought forward a mixed-use development plan for the western edge of Greeley to replace more than 800 acres of agricultural land.
The Planned Unit Development proposal, approved on first reading by the Greeley City Council on Tuesday evening, seeks a rezone of 822 acres from Holding Agriculture to establish a preliminary plan known as the Delantero PUD. The property – which is located south of U.S. 34, east of Weld County Road 17, and west of Colo. 257 – has been zoned for dryland agriculture since 2000.
According to city documents, the development would consist of a mix of residential, commercial and industrial uses. Parks, open spaces and trails are incorporated into the design as well, including the potential to connect to future trail systems in Greeley.
City docs note the plan includes a range of 2,418 to 5,841 residential units, including single-family detached, courtyard single-family detached, duplexes, townhomes and multi-family housing. Those units would take up about half of the development.
The commercial and industrial areas would be situated along U.S. 34 and Colo. 257 “to minimize impacts to lower density residential,” according to city docs. Those uses would make up about one-eighth of the development.
Additionally, a school site would be set aside for the middle of the development to be included in the Johnstown-Milliken Re-5J School District, and parks and open spaces would take up about one-eighth of the space. The remaining acreage would be used for “rights-of-way, detention ponds and existing oil and gas facilities,” according to city docs, which note there are active and plugged and abandoned oil and gas facilities on the site. “The proposed PUD does take into account setbacks for development around the oil and gas facilities,” according to city docs.
The development would be financed through a metropolitan district, according to city docs. The district proposal is under review and is expected to go before city council in the near future. According to the PUD submission, “development is planned to occur in multiple phases, beginning on the east side adjacent to Highway 257 and proceeding west.”
Apex Vista, which is what Edwards Development is calling its PUD now under consideration by Greeley city staff, is the developer’s only raw land development listed on its website. A 2019 marketing brochure for the Apex Vista site, which lists the property’s sale point at about $19 million, claims the development could be “the next Centerra.”
Edwards Development is operating the site as Apex Vista LLC. That limited liability company was formed in August 2012 in Wyoming and went into license tax delinquency in both 2013 and 2014, according to a NoCo Optimist review of Wyoming Secretary of State business records. The company is current on its 2021 license taxes.
Edwards Development also is registered in Wyoming. It was organized in 1977, and it has gone into business license tax delinquency 14 times, including this year. Its business license was revoked by the state of Wyoming in June 2018 after it went delinquent for six straight years. Its license was reinstated a month later, but it has again failed to pay its license taxes on time since April 2019. The company’s 2021 license tax bill was $123.84, and it was due April 1, 2021. The state of Wyoming sent Edwards a license tax delinquency notice on April 2 of this year.
Both Edwards Development and Apex Vista LLC were organized by William J. Edwards of Cheyenne.
The developer listed on the PUD submission is Stratus Companies, a real estate investment group based in Greenwood Village. Stratus was organized in Colorado in 2008 by Richard Dean of Denver. In November 2020, the company sold 14 acres of land in Thornton to Kroger for the construction of a King Soopers.
Other entities listed on the PUD submission are:
LAI Design Group of Englewood as the planner, architect and landscape architect.
CWC Consulting Group of Lone Tree as the civil engineer and surveyor.
MSK Consulting LLC of Centennial as the hydraulic engineer.
LSC Transportation Consultants Inc. as the traffic engineer.
A number of energy extraction companies that own mineral rights for the property in question filed an objection to the PUD proposal on May 4, including Anadarko Petroleum and Kerr-McGee Oil and Gas. Anadarko said it believes there is a coal formation underneath the property, and Kerr-McGee noted it and Anadarko own the oil and gas interests associated with the parcel.
“The mineral assets have significant value, and consequently the Anadarko entities and (Kerr-McGee) are concerned that the approval by (Greeley) of an application for development of the property and the subsequent build-out of the property may impair their ability to develop their minerals and oil and gas interests,” the companies wrote in their objection letter. “The Anadarko entities and (Kerr-McGee) have been in discussions with the applicant on this matter; however, no agreement has been reached to date.”
The Greeley City Council’s actions Tuesday represent just the beginning of the rezoning process. A second hearing on the PUD proposal will take place at a later date, and that hearing will offer the public a chance to comment on the potential development.